我偶尔会花时间研究我的祖先。我们很容易沉浸于寻找一个人的信息，接着再寻找下一个。到目前为止，我已经能够将我的族谱追溯到1760年出生的一位祖先。
犹太人声称他们的血统可以追溯到亚伯拉罕，大约在公元前2000年。神给了亚伯拉罕割礼的标志，作为神与他立约的象征（创 17章），所以割礼成了犹太人律法的一部份。
在加拉太，一些狂热的犹太人一直教导说，如果人们想成为基督的信徒，他们必须对所有的男性行割礼。他们说，这样人们就会顺从神的律法，活在义中。
但是，保罗恰当地教导说，他们不需要行割礼，因为神在给亚伯拉罕割礼的标志之前，早就称他为义了。正如创世记 15:6所说，亚伯拉罕“信耶和华，耶和华就以此为他的义”。因此，亚伯拉罕不是因为遵守律法而称义，而是因为信神而称义。保罗说，称义是因着信。这就是他向加拉太人所传讲的，也正是他们所需要的。因此，他补充说，所有以信为本的人都是“亚伯拉罕的子孙”。
如果你信耶稣，你就是亚伯拉罕的子孙。而你的家谱可以追溯到四千年前，那个大有信心、而不是大有作为的人。赞美神！
信实的神，感谢你让你的孩子在对耶稣的信靠里、而不是在遵行律法的基础上有保障。阿们。
加拉太书 3:1-14
1无知的加拉太人哪！耶稣基督钉十字架，已经活画在你们眼前，谁又迷惑了你们呢？
2我只要问你们这一件：你们受了圣灵，是因行律法呢，是因听信福音呢？
3你们既靠圣灵入门，如今还靠肉身成全吗？你们是这样的无知吗？
4你们受苦如此之多，都是徒然的吗？难道果真是徒然的吗？
5那赐给你们圣灵，又在你们中间行异能的，是因你们行律法呢，是因你们听信福音呢？
6正如“亚伯拉罕信神，这就算为他的义”。
7所以你们要知道：那以信为本的人，就是亚伯拉罕的子孙。
8并且圣经既然预先看明神要叫外邦人因信称义，就早已传福音给亚伯拉罕，说：“万国都必因你得福。”
9可见那以信为本的人和有信心的亚伯拉罕一同得福。
10凡以行律法为本的，都是被咒诅的，因为经上记着：“凡不常照律法书上所记一切之事去行的，就被咒诅。”
11没有一个人靠着律法在神面前称义，这是明显的，因为经上说：“义人必因信得生。”
12律法原不本乎信，只说：“行这些事的，就必因此活着。”
13基督既为我们受了咒诅，就赎出我们脱离律法的咒诅，因为经上记着：“凡挂在木头上都是被咒诅的。”
14这便叫亚伯拉罕的福，因基督耶稣可以临到外邦人，使我们因信得着所应许的圣灵。
"Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham." - Galatians 3:7
Now and then I will spend time studying my ancestry. It is easy to get caught up in finding information on one person, and then another. So far, I have been able to trace my family line back to an ancestor born in 1760.
The Jewish people claim their lineage back to Abraham, from around 2000 B.C. God had given Abraham the sign of circumcision as a symbol of his covenant with him (Genesis 17), so circumcision became part of the Jewish law.
In Galatia, some zealous Jews had been teaching that if people wanted to be Christ-followers, they had to have all of their males circumcised. Then the people would be obedient to God's law and they could live in righteousness, they said.
But Paul had rightly taught that circumcision was not needed because God had credited Abraham with righteousness long before giving him the sign of circumcision. As Genesis 15:6 says, Abraham "believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness." So Abraham was not righteous by obeying the law but by believing God. Righteousness is by faith, said Paul. That was what he had preached to the Galatians, and that was all they needed. So, he added, all who have faith are "children of Abraham."
If you have faith in Jesus, you are a child of Abraham. And your genealogy goes back 4,000 years to a person of faith, not works. Praise God!
Faithful God, thank you for making your children secure in Jesus and not on the basis of keeping the law. Amen.
诵读: 骆云秀
片头: 张妙阳
